Lou Boudreau: 1917-2001

Much more than a star athlete

Boudreau leaves a legion of friends, a rich legacy of achievements

"Good Kid." That was the nickname Lou Boudreau picked up during his 30 seasons as a Cubs announcer because he had trouble remembering names and chose to greet people as "Good Kid."

It's surely the way he will be remembered in Chicago, as a learned voice emanating from a booth he long shared with Jack Quinlan and Vince Lloyd. But Boudreau, who died Friday in Olympia Fields at 84, was far more than an announcer, and he leaves behind a rich legacy marked by excellence and highlighted by achievements that will long endure.

Boudreau, who has had circulatory problems in recent years, was brought into Olympia Fields' St. James Hospital and Health Centers in cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead there, hospital spokeswoman Julie Miller said.

"He was the greatest shortstop I ever saw," said former teammate and fellow Hall-of-Famer Bob Feller. "He was afraid of nobody. He was a great manager, teammate and friend. Just a great man. There is not a more gracious man than Lou Boudreau, and there have not been many better all-around players."

Boudreau's legacy was fashioned over a half-century, beginning at Thornton Township High School in Harvey, then at the University of Illinois, and finally on the field with the Cleveland Indians and in the booth as a chronicler of the Cubs.

He was the star of the Thornton team that won the 1933 state basketball title, and then captain of the Illini basketball team. In 1938, at the age of 21, he was banned from further Big Ten play after reaching a monetary agreement with Cleveland, but by 1941 he was an All-Star shortstop for the Indians. Two years later, before the start of the 1942 season, he was named Cleveland's player-manager, and in 1948 he led the Indians to a World Series win over the Boston Braves.

Along the way he also won an American League batting title (1944) and an American League Most Valuable Player award (1948); managed Larry Doby when he broke the color line in the American League (in 1947, just months after Jackie Robinson did so for all of baseball) and managed Satchel Paige when the legendary pitcher finally got his chance in the majors (in 1948). And twice he stared down the equally legendary Bill Veeck when Veeck, as owner of the Indians, wanted to first replace him with Casey Stengel (after the 1946 season) and then (after the 1947 season) trade him and replace him with Al Lopez. Finally, in 1970, Boudreau was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame.

"I do a lot of thinking. I go over the career," he reflected shortly after his last season (1987) as a Cubs announcer. "I thank the Lord for having the kind of a career that doesn't happen very often to an individual. A lot of times when I was playing, I pinched myself to see if it was really me and if it was really happening.

"If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't change anything."

In the spring of 1937, Boudreau went to Wrigley Field for a Cubs tryout camp. He was called aside by Cubs coach John "Red" Corrigan, who told him, "We've seen enough. We'd like to sign you."

But Boudreau said he was going to the University of Illinois, even though he had long dreamed of playing at Wrigley Field.

"Kid," Cubs general manager Charlie Grimm then told him. "You made quite an impression. They want me to sign you up right now if you're willing."

"Mr. Grimm, I'm going to the University of Illinois," Boudreau said, and he did, returning to Champaign for his junior season. He was not approached by another team until he walked off the field after that year's final Big Ten game. Indians scout Harold Ireland assumed that Boudreau was set to join the Cubs. "No I'm not," Boudreau told him, and that sent Ireland scurrying up to Harvey, where he struck a deal with Boudreau's parents. If he promised to sign with Cleveland after graduation, the Indians would give each of them (they were divorced) $500 and send an additional $100 a month to the mother to defray school expenses.

That was the deal, and after much debate, it was also enough for Big Ten athletic directors to declare him ineligible.

So, in that summer of 1938, Boudreau joined the Indians' farm team in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was called up in 1939, and two years later, at the age of 24, he was an All-Star. In the fall following the 1941 season, he became a player-manager at the tender age of 24.

"I didn't know what to do then," he once admitted, but he settled into the job while developing into the game's finest shortstop and a legend in Cleveland. But never had the Indians challenged for the pennant under him, and when Veeck took over in early 1946, he asked Boudreau to step aside in favor of Stengel. Boudreau, the proud competitor, refused, and after the next season, Veeck tried to trade him to St. Louis so he could replace him with Lopez.